Starting Wednesday,
passengers traveling from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea can only gain
entry through the international airports in New York, Washington, D.C.,
Atlanta, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey -- which account for 94% of all
incoming travelers from those countries, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
While all U.S. entry
points currently screen passengers for potential exposure to the Ebola
virus, these five airports have taken additional steps to screen for the
disease, such as taking passengers' temperature and other additional
protocols, Johnson said.
The announcement comes
amid increasingly vocal calls for President Barack Obama to ban all
travel from those three countries into the United States despite top
health officials advising against a travel ban.
The ban will apply to any
passengers whose flights originated in those three countries since
there are no direct flights from there to the U.S. "We are working closely
with the airlines to implement these restrictions with minimal travel
disruption," Johnson said in a statement.Johnson also said that he
spoke with Customs and Border Protection officials and said he was
"impressed by their professionalism, and their training and preparation"
for the additional screening measures. The five airports stepped
up their screening procedures over the last week and a half for
passengers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Those travelers are
assessed by medical staff and questioned about potential Ebola exposure.
The measures are similar to screenings all airline passengers face at airports in West Africa.
Chairman of the House
Judiciary Committee Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Republican who plans to
introduce legislation calling for a travel ban, said in a statement he
is "glad that the Obama administration is showing more concern" over the
spread of Ebola.
"But the Administration
must do more to protect Americans," Goodlatte said, noting that
screening measure would not have detected that Thomas Eric Duncan, the
first to die of the disease on U.S. soil, was infected with Ebola.
A White House official
said Johnson's announcement comes after Obama directed his National
Security staff to continually review procedures to fight off an outbreak
of the disease.
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